Sutures may be used in a wide variety of surgical procedures. Manual suturing may be accomplished by the surgeon using a fine pair of graspers to grab and hold a suture needle, pierce the tissue with the needle, let go of the needle, and re-grasp the needle to pull the needle and accompanying suture thread through the tissues to be sutured. Such needles may be curved with the suture attached to the trailing end of the needle.
Some surgical instruments automate at least part of the suturing procedure. Examples of automated suturing instruments are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,702,732, entitled “Laparoscopic Suturing Instrument with Dual-Action Needle Graspers,” issued Apr. 22, 2014, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pub. No. 2011/0313433, entitled “Laparoscopic Suture Device with Asynchronous In-Line Needle Movement,” published Dec. 22, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,168,037, issued Oct. 27, 2015 the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; U.S. Pub. No. 2014/0171970, entitled “Circular Needle Applier with Articulating and Rotating Shaft,” published Jun. 19, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,357,998, issued Jun. 7, 2016 the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/297,993, entitled “Jawed Receiver for Needle Cartridge,” filed Jun. 6, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,474,522, issued Oct. 25, 2016 the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
While various kinds of suturing instruments and associated components have been made and used, it is believed that no one prior to the inventor(s) has made or used the invention described in the appended claims.
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the technology may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present technology, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the technology; it being understood, however, that this technology is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.